Steer Your Heart to the Truth

What do you want? It’s an innocuous question on the surface.

A million times a day we make decisions: The black shoes instead of the brown. A tuna sandwich for lunch. An hour of reality TV and then an hour of reading before bed.

When I think of that question, my mind drifts to the Tom Hanks line from You’ve Got Mail: “The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don’t know what the hell they’re doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino.”

We make a gazillion decisions on any given day, so of course we know what we want.

Right?

Well. If you’re like a lot of people, the answer to “what do you want” may come out “I don’t know.”

I hear it often. I’ve been known to utter these words myself. (In fact, as recently as two months ago, I was called on it by a dear friend when I answered a question about my writing this way.)

The truth, my dear, is this: you do know. At least, the deepest part of your heart knows.

Sometimes the answer to the question “what do you want” is rarely“I don’t know,” but instead comes out as a shopping list of “shoulds” revolving around perfection. Answers like “I want to be a perfect wife, mother, and employee.”

Feeling the need to “be perfect” sets us up for a constant dialogue with our Inner Critic. We base our idea of perfection on the outside world views: a white picket fence, baking cookies, and being a hot sex-kitten for our man. (Or for my guys out there, it’s working hard to bring home the bacon, playing a great game of golf and one-on-one basketball, and being the strong, supportive, sensitive partner at all times.)

Now, while I’m a big lover of cookies – and I believe that you (yes, you) are a hotty-hot sex kitten deep inside, I’m here to tell you, darling, that continuing to strive for the perfection based on what the outside world – also known as “they” – should look like is a path to dissatisfaction with your life.

Look. I know to the depths of my soul that you desire – and fully deserve – to be happy.

Only you can define what happy looks like to you. Only you can define what satisfaction feels like.

I know that this is scary territory for some. I cannot tell you the umpteen times that I have sat across the table from (or at the other end of the phone) from someone who realized they were afraid of the answers even more than of the questions. And then to be a witness to the discovery that the desire to begin living life is stronger than the pain, the numbness, and the fear of simply existing.

I have faith that you can find your heart’s desires. That you can be happy. That you can feel joyful and satisfied and proud.

It starts with facing the simple question of “What do I want”. And answering it with truth.

If you are ready to explore now, begin by asking yourself these questions:

What is the best thing about my life?

What is my best quality?

How do I want to feel?

Why do I want to feel ________?

When I answer “what” I want, what is the first thing that comes to mind?

Now Available as a Fully-Downloadable Course.

Upon signing up you’ll receive a workbook containing all 30 lessons. There are also dozens of worksheets and writing prompts to take you from cobwebs in your brain to a clear thinking and the ability to listen to the small, still voice of your heart.

No more waiting for the course to begin or that next email. You can begin at any time.

Designed to help you clear out the brain clutter that is drowning out the voices of your heart and soul. You’ll gain clarity by getting to know yourself and what the core of you really want.

You deserve to fall head over heels in love with your life.

The Investment: $21

About Debra

A self-admitted Tarnished Southern Belle, Debra Smouse is a life coach and writer living in Dayton, Ohio. She discovered that when she began clearing clutter, more than just space opened up. She fell in love with her life. And you know what? Life loved her right back.